How to put the power back in your hands

Australia's power bills have been rising, and represent one of the largest threats to household budgets.

From 2008 to 2016, power prices in Victoria and NSW more than doubled; in the 2017 September Quarter Consumer Price Index, the single biggest increase was electricity, which jumped 8.9 per cent.

In response, many Australians are reducing reliance on or leaving the electricity grid and looking to solar power and other technologies to cut their power bills.

Peter Youll and Michael Peters are two ordinary Australians who wanted to make a change, not only to their power bills but for the climate.

"Solar was too good a deal to pass up," Youll says.

He started with a relatively small system installed on his townhouse in North Epping in Sydney to stop increasing electricity prices and to do his part to fight global warming.

As the price of solar panels fell and batteries became more affordable, Youll soon covered his entire roof in 20 panels, installing batteries and inverter technology to push unused energy back into the grid, turning power to profit.

Peters, from Balgowlah Heights in Sydney, made the leap to solar renewables during home renovations as a way to fight pollution and cut his power bills.

He says while it was a high initial outlay, "I asked myself: 'If I pay this installation cost up front and lock in my current electricity costs as my benchmark, when will these solar panels break even?'."

This break-even came sooner than expected.

"My costs have gone down from about $260 per month," Peters says.

Youll has seen a dramatic difference as well. "We're paying almost nothing for power, but we haven't used the airconditioning this summer, so this may be different once it is running," he says.

Feed-in tariffs

Both men listed the feed-in tariff - a payment for installing and using panels also known as the solar bonus scheme - as a motivator for installation.

Youll says the feed-in tariff pays for his connection to the grid and means he can supply his excess energy to other users for profit.

Not every state is the same when it comes to the feed-in tariffs, which aren't as generous as they once were.

In NSW, there is no mandatory feed-in tariff rate, but rates typically vary from 6??-12?? a kilowatt-hour.

Victoria has a more supportive scheme for users with solar installations of up to 100 kilowatts. Since June 2017 the state has a mandatory minimum rate of 11.3?? a kilowatt-hour.

But don't expect power bills to be slashed immediately if you go solar, especially as the government reduces this feed-in tariff.

Youll and Peters are just some of many Australians looking to generate their own energy.

As of September 2017, Australia had more than 6500 megawatts of installed solar power, while a report by consulting firm Energy Synapse found solar installations in NSW saved consumers up to $2.2 billion from May 2016 to April 2017.

During this period, small solar PV systems are estimated to have generated 1540 gigawatt hours of power within the state.

The report said, if not for solar power, the volume-weighted average price of wholesale electricity would have been between $29 and $44 per megawatt hour higher than the actual average price for the period of $88 per megawatt hour.

Solar's sidekicks

However solar panels alone won't make the biggest impact in driving down power bills.

Other ways to drive down costs even further is through smarter panel alignment, which can boost hours of sun exposure, and installing battery storage.

Solar energy company Shinehub's co-founder and solar consultant Alex Georgiou said historically solar rooftop panels in Australia have been installed as a single, north-facing unit, to make use of the midday sun, but fail to provide solar energy when users are at home later in the day.

"North-facing panels will pump plenty of energy back into the grid, but the vast majority of households panels need to be facing in other directions, like east and west, in order to generate power at the times you're actually at home and using it," Kim says.

Georgiou claims that users of this split-style installation were running power bills as low as $10 per month during winter.

"Before the new installation I was using 20 kilowatts per hour on a daily basis, but it's now down to nine kilowatts per hour, without a difference in my energy usage behaviour," Peters says.

Georgiou adds, "Without batteries, it is next to impossible to reduce night-time bills."

Combining solar panels with batteries ensures power you've generated is still available, even when the sun isn't shining, reducing your reliance on the grid.

Energy Efficiency Council chief executive Luke Menzel says while the overall story of energy in Australia seems to be coal or renewables, batteries are taking the role of the "loveable sidekick" to solar and renewable energy.

Youll says by adding battery storage to his installation, the reduction in power costs means the battery pays for itself before its warranty runs out.

There's also the added bonus of selling your excess power back into the grid, to generate a profit on your installation.

Beyond solar panels

The appeal of installing solar panels and batteries to drive down power costs is high, but for some, there are barriers to entry.

The installation costs can be high, and the return on investment may take some time to recoup initial costs.

If you're a renter, the thought of forking out for a solar installation you can't take with you is also a disincentive to invest in the technology.

Energy Consumers Australia says one of the best ways to drive down your bill is to shop around.

A Canstar Blue Energy Insight report released in November found the difference between NSW's cheapest and most expensive electricity plans was about $1600.

Canstar also noted that 27 per cent of NSW electricity plans had the word "save" or a variant thereof, but none of them were actually in the top five cheapest plans.

You can use online comparison tools, but many of these have preferred retailers so be wary.

The government has its own comparison website, EnergyMadeEasy.gov.au, to take some of the mystery out of power bills and contracts.

It has a straightforward comparison tool, giving the average usage for people in your area, using these details to find appropriate electricity and gas retail offers, breaking them down by cost and which provide solar options as well.

Menzel says there are also a range of measures people can take to drive down costs.

One of these is demand response, or getting smarter about how you use your energy.

You can also download apps, join groups focused on driving down costs, or negotiate contracts with a different retailer which can provide you with live energy usage so you can see your own consumption behaviours and put the power in your hands.